Private Circuits: Custom-built slot-car tracks sell to wealthy hobbyists around the world

David Beattie, owner of Slot Mods, talks about the construction of custom slot-car raceways at his shop. (Detroit Free Press)

DETROIT — Business coaches often advise people to find what they love and the money will follow. That certainly worked in Dave Beattie’s life.

Beattie, 50, of Clinton Township, Mich., lost his job three years ago as an operations manager for an exhibit display company. Broke and with a young daughter and a wife training to be a doctor, he wasn’t sure what to do.

Then an acquaintance who knew of Beattie’s hobby of slot-car racing — tabletop racetracks on which miniature race cars zoom around powered by electric current — admired Beattie’s own handmade track in his basement. He asked Beattie to make him one.